


Like a Fish Out of Water

by Moira Bathory (Midnightsecho)



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: (But who is surprised), Blood, Dismembering, M/M, Mermaid!Rhys, Pirate Mermaid AU, Pirate! Jack, Violence, gonna add more tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-07-18 06:54:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7304050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Midnightsecho/pseuds/Moira%20Bathory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not all the stories you hear about mermaids are true, yet not all of them are false.<br/>Rhys just wants to live a normal life, albeit one surrounded by shiny things. He doesn't expect nor does he want the whirlwind of getting caught up -figuratively and literally- on the Helios, a pirate ship captained by the horrible Handsome Jack... Nor the chaos that ensues from their meeting, and the clashing of two worlds that often try to avoid each other as best as they can.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Life under the sea was really simple.  
You swam. You avoided sharks, steered clear of big weird things on the surface, and manly just kept to yourself.  
The merpeople beneath the Pandoran sea didn’t know of the tall tales spun about them, nor the stories that bore truths. They, for the most part, weren’t really concerned with the affairs of man, as long as they stayed the hell away… Which they did, for the most part.  
So life in the water was pretty “normal”, at least, for them. Things were static despite the ever moving tides, not always perfect, but certainly not nearly as exciting as the surface. It was relaxing, and that was all there was to it.

It wasn’t rare to see merpeople swim leisurely to and fro, like they had not a care in the world. Two such mermen were doing just that, floating to a wreckage and conversing.  
“So I told him, the fake hair he found doesn’t make him cooler. And you know what he did? He tried to hit me!” Said the one, swimming backwards. Brown hair swished in the current, his violet tail flicking lazily as he went. Before him, his friend was snickering.  
“What an ass,” he said.  
“Assquez,” the brunet said in agreement, and they both chuckled-  
Until he hit his head against a jutting piece of wood.  
“Gah, ow. Who put that there?” he hissed, turning around to the wreck.  
“Uh, Gravity?” suggested his friend with a chuckle. “You okay, bro?”  
The brunet nodded, but he cast the piece of wood a nasty glare before pointedly swimming under it.  
“But anyways, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted... He tried to hit me, so I swam backwards and hit him in the face with my tail. And his hair just- floof! Right off.”  
“That didn’t happen.”  
“Oh, it so did.”  
“Rhys.”  
“... Vaughn. It did happen… but it was more like I flinched when he tried to hit me and flopped way too far backwards. But still, it did happen! And there went the fake hair! So while he was trying to get it back, I bolted out of there. Either way, the moral is.. He sucks,” Rhys said, crossing his arms.  
“That I can agree with,” his friend said. They swam through a crack in the hull of the ship, peering through the sudden obscurity. It took a moment to get used to the lack of light, but everything became clear. Various things were floating against the top of the wooden structure, including a few corpses. The two pulled each out, letting them drift upwards back to the surface, where humans belonged.  
But not before Rhys searched through what little belongings they had. A grin grew on his face as he gripped something from a human’s pocket, the strange item glimmering in his eyes.  
“I’m keeping this,” Rhys said, and Vaughn just shrugged. Keeping it by himself for the moment, they continued to pull, until there was no one left.  
“I hate this job,” Rhys hissed, crossing his arms.  
“It could be worse,” Vaughn said with a shrug, observing his own little slice of shiny loot. He wasn’t sure what it did, but it had a little needle and weird markings, and it always seemed to point one way regardless of how he moved. So… That was cool.  
“We wouldn’t get all of this cool stuff. Sucks that we gotta touch humans though. Dead humans,” Rhys said, and shuddered. With all of that done, the two abandoned the wreck, swimming back to their own little slice of heaven.

Well. Not heaven, but certainly not a horrible place, either. A great deal of strange things cluttered their little home, from other wrecks and trades or whatnot.  
Rhys flopped down onto the sand, eagerly examining the peculiar shiny that he’d gotten today. After a little bit of fidgeting, he realized it was a necklace, and managed to put it on with the rest of them, grinning. Such things were his absolute favorite, and he meticulously picked which embellishments to attach to his tail, which lavish rings to wear, and had even found this peculiar little band encrusted with jewels that fit neatly around his right arm. Meanwhile, Vaughn found the strange mechanisms amusing, and his favorite was a block with little beads that could be moved, which he found helped him count a lot better -not, of course, that he needed help with that.-  
He was perfectly content with letting his vain friend keep all the shiny things for himself.  
Rhys admired himself on the large glass mirror, the one that he’d determinedly dragged all the way to their home so long ago, and winked at his reflection. However, his expression was morphed by a yawn.  
Said yawn was contagious, and he gave Vaughn a sympathetic look.  
“I think we did a pretty good job today. We deserve some rest,” he said, to which his friend nodded and flopped on the sand.  
“Yeah. Only one more of those… things, and then we are home free until the next time humans do… whatever they do,” Vaughn said, in a tone evidently laced with exhaustion.  
“Whatever they do,” Rhys repeated. “Weirdos.”

They drifted off into an easy sleep soon after, soothed by the current that kept them both safe, with dreams of counting fish or finding shiny boxes full of stuff.  
Pleasant things.

Life above the surface wasn’t nearly as pleasant. In the morning, as the sun rose slowly in the horizon, a large vessel floated by. A great deal of shouting polluted the air, though it was mainly caused by one man in particular, standing high above the rest and ordering them around.  
The deck bustled with activity, and no one went without a task. Lowering nets into the sea, cleaning… there was so much to be done, and none wished to incur the wrath of their captain, who already looked rather frustrated with the lot of them.  
Or maybe he hated being awake so early. Who knew with him. Either way, the frustration ebbed from the man, in his tone, in his stature, and especially in the single eye that gazed down upon them.  
If looks could kill… If only looks could kill. This ship would be filled with ghosts.

But instead, it was filled with promises and lies, headed by one horrible, horrible man who no one wanted to cross.  
And his name was Handsome Jack.  
(Anyone who dared call him otherwise was hanging by their neck on the mast. Fortunately, by the second death, the crew kind of got the memo.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad luck follows Rhys like a curse. A curse he doesn't yet know the name of... Perhaps that would have been a good question to ask, but merfolk are notorious for being easily distracted...

Rhys woke up in the same way that he usually did… Very, very slowly.   
Blinking sleep out of his heterochromatic eyes, he lazily made his way to the mirror, and to his box of shiny things. The box itself was adorned with gold and metal, and he kept the contents from floating away by hooking them onto hooks he’d found. There were so many things now that they were starting to get tangled in one another, making his choices that much harder. Rhys made a mental note to find another box for his things, then reached inside and grabbed a comb, to get all of the sand out of his hair. There was, after all, no point in brushing his hair for any other reason, seeing as how it would sway with the waves like he did. With that done, Rhys smiled and winked at his mirror, and set about deciding what shiny things to wear for the day.  
It was their last day of clearing for the moment, and that warranted a celebration; Obviously, he needed to wear all of his favorites. At once.

 

Rhys could hear Vaughn floating about behind him, so he turned and greeted his friend with a wave.  
“Hey, do you think this is too cluttered?” he asked, fidgeting with golden rings just a touch too big for his fingers. Vaughn just shrugged in reply.  
“Oh, thanks,” Rhys frowned, but was handed a piece of kelp for breakfast… So he decided not to complain, and just snack.  
“Maybe after we’re done, we can go see Yvette. I mean, this won’t take all day, and I need a new shiny box,” Rhys suggested.  
“Yeah, but we’ll have to bring her food offerings,” Vaughn replied. “Guess we can find something on the way there.”  
“Yeah. It’ll be a celebration. Our last day of human disposal. Hey! Maybe we’ll get to do other things, like storm control…”  
“Or stock counting.”  
“... Well, you can count stock and I’m going to make storms,” Rhys said with a nod, tearing apart the last piece of his kelp with razor sharp teeth.  
And just like that, they were swimming out of their cave, off to the last boat that needed clearing before their new opportunities awaited.

 

This particular boat was relatively intact, though Rhys and Vaughn could see how it had sunk -It had been punctured and caught on a rock-. The initial slice at the bottom was way too thin to get through, unlike most other ships’ who’s cracks were wide enough for the thin creatures to fit into. They had no choice but to circle around it until Rhys noticed a door.  
“Oh hey, it’s one of those things,” he pointed out, swimming over to it.  
“Hole cover?” Vaughn asked as he approached. They eyed the thing curiously, when Rhys finally shrugged. He, at least, hoped that it covered a hole, otherwise it’d be difficult for them to do their job, and he could kiss the Storm Control job good-bye.  
He just needed to think. They’d been pretty young -and maybe a little stupid- when last they’d seen humans… or, living humans, rather. Curious as could be, Rhys had dragged Vaughn up to the surface in the middle of the night, and they peered at the activity on a passing boat. While he couldn’t really understand what they were saying, there was singing and walking around and quite a bit of yelling.  
And ‘hole cover’ things being opened and closed.

 

Rhys tried pushing on the door. It did not move. He tried hitting it with his tail -ow.- and punching it a few times -more ow-, but nothing seemed to work...  
Until he tried tugging on it, and it swung open, nearly hitting him in the face.  
“Ha ha! I figured it out,” he said proudly, and they swam into the darkness of the structure to search. The two, noting how big the vessel was, decided to go their separate ways, so as to make the job easier and faster. Vaughn decided to take the top portion, while Rhys agreed to swim down to the bottom, because he could see a lot better in the dark, and there were usually more valuable things down there.  
If Vaughn liked shiny things, then Rhys would surely share them with him. He cared a lot for his best friend. Vaughn was the one who didn’t care for shinies, but rather enjoyed the intriguing contraptions that were often found in the top areas. It was a win-win, in that case, because neither fought for the treasures they found.

 

Rhys swam into a few things in the darkness on his way there, but soon his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. There seemed to be a great deal of things hung up on the walls or pinned there, but the water had washed off the ink and paints. While Rhys was curious about what the images could have been, they were of no use to him, so he continued swimming until he reached yet another door. He repeated the process of tugging and pushing, but neither thing seemed to work. So he pulled harder, with all of his might and…  
The water that came rushing at him stung. Within this room, barrels of spices had once sat, but their contents escaped into the water when the boat sunk, sealed in by the door. Rhys’ eyes burned as he swam backwards, trying to get away from the painful things floating around in the water. He continued his retreat until he hit a wall, and even continued as the rotten would gave way, landing him into...Something else.

 

Through the blur of his vision, he could see nothing but bits of beige. Rhys was absolutely confused; he didn’t remember anything being nearby when they had arrived, and he didn’t know what it was. He shouted for Vaughn as loudly as he could, coughing from the spices that had managed to get in his mouth too, somehow. He could hear his friend shout back, but didn’t understand what had been said.  
The beige thing moved. He hadn’t realized it had been moving until he felt it tug him.  
Rhys suddenly remembered all the horror stories his mother used to tell him at night, and, were his eyes not still burning, they would surely have widened in terror.  
It was a net. A human’s net.  
He squirmed and struggled, trying to get his tail untangled from the rope and, although he managed that, it tangled around his arm instead.  
“Seriously? Come on!” Rhys shouted at it, as if the object might let go from his anger alone.  
Trying to tug his arm out caused the ropes to get even more caught around his skin, and he stopped when he felt it slice into him. An orange blur was suddenly by his side, and Rhys felt relieved to know that Vaughn had heard and found him.  
“I’m stuck,” said Rhys, trying not to panic, but panicking very much.  
“I see that. Don’t worry bro, I’ll get you out,” Vaughn replied to him, sounding equally as worried. He tugged and tugged as well, but this made things even worse. Vaughn let go of Rhys’ arm when it started to bleed.  
“I’ll… Um, I’ll get help!” he said frantically., “Or… Um…try chewing through the rope? No… It’s too close to your arm, I don’t think you can do that without biting yourself… Uh... Chew your arm off? I don’t know!”  
The entire net jerked, and suddenly it was moving much faster. Not sideways as it had been.  
Up.  
Up towards a dark shadow at the surface. But Vaughn didn’t notice it, speeding off to try and find help.  
Rhys stared at the retreating form of his friend with a great deal of sorrow, before looking up hesitantly at the rapidly approaching surface.

 

Jack sat at the edge of the boat with a ridiculously bored expression. If they reeled in that net one more time and it was just a bunch of fish… Well.  
Someone was going to be sleeping with said fish. This spot was supposed to be where mermaids made their home. There had been spotting after spotting, and all the tell-tale signs; a ridiculous amount of wrecked ships, floating bodies on the surface…  
And yet all they’d caught was fish.  
It was frustrating, to say the least. (And murderously infuriating to say the most.)  
“Well, look on the bright side. At least we’ll have tons of fish to eat,” one of the men said to another standing nearby.  
Jack was just about to pick him up by the neck and throw him overboard when a chorus of ‘wow’s stopped him. He whipped around suddenly, looking over the side and to the net.  
And yes, there were more fish in the net. But there was also something that was definitely not a fish fidgeting around with them, with a violet tail that glistened in the sunlight.  
All of a sudden, those fish tasted like success.

 

The net and its contents were lifted onto the deck with about as much grace as a dancing manatee. There was a loud thud, and the merman made a hissing noise, one that sounded like it was in pain… Which, evidently, it was. Its blood was slowly staining the deck, and Jack’s ridiculously incompetent crew was just… Staring at it! They were all getting replaced the next chance he had. But for now, that wasn’t important.  
“Idiots, move!” his voice boomed across the deck as he stomped over to the creature tangled in the net.  
He may or may not have pushed someone overboard in the process. Just one less person to pay.

 

The creature caught in the net was absolutely not a mermaid. Jack had heard tales that mermen were ridiculously ugly creatures, and yet that did not seem to be the case… At least, for this one. Gender didn’t really matter to Jack anyways, it was the creature that was important… And there it was, flopping around like all the other fish that had come with it. He knelt down carefully and held his hands out.  
“Shh, Shh. I’ll get you out of there. Just hang on,” he said as gently as he could manage… Not that it mattered, because the creature looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language, and kept his wiggling, trying to get back over the side of the boat. If the net went with him, so be it. Maybe Vaughn was waiting for him with help.  
He did, however, freeze when he saw something shiny from the corner of his eye…  
It was not the kind of shiny Rhys liked. It was a sharp silver, and it sent shivers down his spine as it approached his arm…  
And started slicing into the rope. With every cut into a thing that was not his arm, Rhys became more and more calm. This scarred up human on this horrifying ship was getting him out of the net?  
Huh.

 

Finally free, Rhys sat up, rubbing at the cuts in his arm. The scarred human in the beige coat yelled at the other humans, and they ran off in terror, which Rhys found to be pretty amusing. They scurried to and fro, doing this and that while glancing occasionally at Rhys.  
He wondered if he should feel bad about it, but their faces spoke of admiration, so he couldn’t help but feel a little proud, and very vain. It occupied his thoughts until the human who helped him picked him up, and he started to worry when they were absolutely not heading towards the edge of the boat, but further in.  
To a hole cover thing. He was flopped down on a thing inside of a room, and the human scurried off further into it.

 

The room was filled to the brink with shiny things of all kinds. He’d seen rooms like these previously, but they had been mostly destroyed, with a great deal of things stolen. Here, they glowed in the light of a lamp on a table, adorning every wall and glistening in his eyes.  
This was one very lucky human who, speaking of which, returned but looked very annoyed. He grabbed Rhys’ injured arm tightly, so that no matter how much he tried to tug, he couldn’t get away. Then, he dumped something on the tears that burned -which worried Rhys-, and wrapped it up with cloth, which then confused him. Was this person trying to help him or hurt him? Because at this point, he really couldn’t tell. The human gave him a pat on the head, then sat down on a nearby desk.  
“ So… Do you understand me at all?” the human asked slowly, pronouncing each word with a careful precision.  
“Um… Yeah? Kinda,” Rhys replied, feeling pleased that he could finally decipher what was being said. Maybe he’d just had water in his ears when the human was speaking? Either way, he was fine now, for the most part.  
“Huh, well. That makes things a lot easier, then,” he said. “Right. So here’s the deal. Sorry to pull you out of your home and interrupt whatever it was you were doing, but… I needed one of you. I’ll bring you back, of course, but a thing I really want has a mermaid, a.k.a you, as a requirement for fetching it.”  
Rhys listened to the explanation, eyebrows furrowing. He didn’t really sound sorry… He glanced around, thinking this whole situation over, wondering if there was a way to get past this human and all the other ones and get back home. He was deep in thought when something heavy came to rest on his head, and he blinked in confusion before reaching up to see what it was.  
Oh wow.  
Wow wow wow. It was so… So…. Shiny. A circlet type thing made of gold -his favorite-, except this thing went on his head. He put it back, admiring the jewels encrusted into it, and how it looked in his reflection in a nearby mirror.  
“Ha, see? You looked like someone who likes jewelry. Tell you what. You help me get what I want, and you can have all of the treasure that your little arms can carry back with you… Deal?” the human held out his hand and Rhys stared at it in confusion. He grabbed the hand, examining the rings upon his fingers, which caused him to laugh. Though the hand was pulled out of his, there seemed to be no ill will between either of them.  
Rhys considered the circlet in his hands and the promise of more shiny things. Vaughn and Yvette would be worried, sure… But he could make up for it by bringing them lots of nice things too.  
This would be good for all of them. Hell, maybe he’d come back a hero. The mermaid who was taken by humans and came back with tons of stuff! That would certainly get him some respect. Maybe he’d even be in charge of storm control. Or better!  
“Deal,” Rhys said with a nod.

 

He thought too late that he should maybe have asked what he needed to help with before accepting.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mermaids can do a lot of neat things. Rhys has trouble figuring out which of those many things Jack needs him for.  
> Oh, and he also finds out his name, which makes things a lot easier.

By the time Rhys had realized that he’d just accepted a deal to which he had no idea what his part was, the human had patted him on the head and walked out the hole cover, barking orders in a tone that was absolutely not the one he had used previously. Rhys was left alone, not even really capable of thinking because of how loud the yelling was. That door did absolutely nothing to keep sound out. He laid down across the nameless piece of furniture, putting his fin up with a sigh.  
“Probably should have asked him what he wanted first, huh…”he said to no one in particular. Rhys laid his soaked head back on a protruding piece of the furniture and glanced up at the ceiling, the sole thing that was bare of treasures and knick knacks.  
For a while, he pondered what the man could possibly want from him that he couldn’t get without merfolk. Rhys had never found their history all that fascinating, instead entertained by human contraptions and storm control, so the memories of being little were fuzzy and difficult to conjure up.  
Um…  
Um….  
Ugh.   
It could be a great deal of things, some of which were not at all pleasant.  
Their blood did something. Rhys couldn’t exactly remember the particular effects, but he knew it was something. And he remembered those horrible stories from when he was little, about humans stealing your scales and making necklaces out of them. It could be the whole “Tears become pearls” thing, but, Rhys thought, it didn’t seem like this guy needed any more pearls. They were everywhere, one of the few things he could recognize and name. The talking to fish was surely not it, especially since fish didn’t really have all that much to say, anyways.  
It could be that this human was going to put him in a tank and make people pay to see him… But that was the worst case scenario, and he had said that he would get to bring treasure back.

Oh.  
That was probably it! Treasure. A treasure that required a mermaid to get to. There was such a thing, or rather, Rhys thought so. It was more like a story passed down from generation to generation of mermaid, about how they were once capable of bestowing gifts upon humans.  
Blah blah blah, humans betrayed them, the secret was locked away in the Coast of Storms… End of story. Whether or not the Coast of Storms actually existed, Rhys didn’t know. He didn’t think he needed the ability to bestow gifts upon humans; he’d never really interacted with them up until this point.  
Or rather, not alive ones. He didn’t think that looting bodies counted as interacting.

Regardless, he wasn’t going to get any answers from here, what with the human being outside. All he could do was wait… and wait… and wait.  
God, Rhys hated waiting. He closed his eyes. Just as he was about to fall asleep to the ship’s gentle rocking, he felt something weird.  
Prickling.  
It started at his hips, just a slight discomfort that was just noticeable enough. As it spread, it became intense, until he was wiggling and fidgeting to try and get it to stop. As sudden as it had arrived, it was pain, intense and ripping.  
“Ow ow ow, what the- Ow!” Rhys said, finally opening his eyes and casting a glance at his tail.  
But it wasn’t a tail. It had split right down the center, flesh interspersed with glinting violet scales.  
There was a brief pause, followed by a shrill scream and jump that landed Rhys right off the furniture thing and onto the floor.   
The next thing he knew, the hole cover was being swung open and in had stepped the human, looking halfway between murderous and concerned.  
And then his face switched to confused, and finally amused. He laughed loudly.  
“Shit, you scared the hell out of me! Thought something had hurt you,” he said. “Can’t have that. It’s hard enough to get one of you.” Rhys heard him speak, but didn’t pay attention.  
“I have those… things! Why do I have things, what the… ow, my tail,” Rhys exclaimed frantically. He touched the skin hesitantly, grimacing at the peculiar feeling.  
“Yeah yeah, relax. It’s normal,” the human said, patting him on the head once more and kneeling beside him… And was he laughing? Rhys wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Insulted, maybe.  
“Can’t believe you don’t know what your own body does. I don’t know if that’s cute or sad… Eh. Whatever. Give me a sec, I’ll see if I’ve got anything that can fit you,” he said, giving Rhys a pat on the thigh and standing. Rhys strained to try and look at him from his spot on the floor.  
“What kind of anything?” he asked, but could not see what the other was pulling out from a large wooden dresser in the corner.  
Until it was thrown right at his face. The materials then dropped into Rhys’ hands, soft to the touch.  
“Clothes.”  
“Okay, why?”  
“Because you need to cover up? I mean, for one, you’d probably wind up getting cold. Too, I really don’t want people staring more than they already do and three, it covers up your scales and shit so no one knows you’re anything but a normal human… That way no one tries to steal you, and I don’t have to kill them for stealing you,” the human explained. After a few moments of fidgeting, Rhys managed to wiggle into the clothes -properly, by some miracle-, and stood.  
He wobbled a lot, but managed to stay up. The vain creature stared in the mirror, at the way the soft shirt fabric billowed around his top and the way the pants looked on his…um.  
They had to have a name, he just didn’t know what they were. When he turned to the human, he noted that he was not the only one staring.  
He felt more than a little proud.

“We really should get you more of those. Ones that actually fit properly,” the human said, as if he hadn’t been staring at all, and began to walk away.  
“Oh, hey! Wait! I have some questions for you,” Rhys called out, taking tentative steps towards the retreating figure. It was not nearly as easy as the other humans made it seem.  
“Yeah? Well, come on then. I have important things to do,” he replied.  
It was hard to follow him, but Rhys did his best, catching himself a few times as they walked across the deck.  
“So, first of all. What do you even need me for?” Rhys asked, deciding that the question that had been bothering him the most was more important than anything else.  
“Need you to get us into the Coast of Storms,” was the nonchalant reply.  
“Figured as much,” Rhys replied. He toppled over, but the human beside him caught him and righted him.  
“And… Do you humans have names?” he figured they must. The way Rhys posed the question seemed to be amusing.  
“Obviously. You didn’t think we went around calling each other ‘hey you!’, did you?” he laughed.  
“I… honestly don’t know what to expect up here. I’m kinda surprised I can understand you...Um… My name is Rhys, by the way. So… You don’t have to call me ‘hey you’,” he explained.  
"I'm Jack, Captain Handsome Jack, at your service,” the human said to him, and his tone could only be described as cocky. Rhys, however, didn’t exactly seem impressed.  
More… confused.  
“Do… all humans have adjectives like that or is it… just a thing you do?” Rhys asked, tilting his head and regarding the pirate with confusion.  
Jack stopped his walking to glare at him for a moment -which startled Rhys-, and seemed about to say or do something, but stopped. And sighed. And ran a hand through his hair in aggravation.  
“Not all humans. I earned it,” he said.  
Curious Rhys wanted to know how he had managed to earn it, but decided that another question was more important.  
“Do you even know where the coast of storms is?” he asked instead.  
“You’ve sure got a lot of questions, kiddo,” was Jack’s only reply, so Rhys figured he was all questioned out and wouldn’t be getting anything more from the man.  
Oh well. Instead, Rhys wobbled his way back to the previous room, back onto the couch with a flop.  
This was boring. He hadn’t even been gone that long and already he missed Vaughn and Yvette. He might even miss _Assquez_ because he was, at the very least, somewhat entertaining.

Jack returned and, somewhere between then and their conversation, Rhys had managed to fall asleep. Jack figured this whole ordeal was exhausting for the little fish, especially the whole _suddenly having legs_ bit.  
It was exhausting for him, too. He kind of envied Rhys for being able to sleep, when he still had so much to do. But he reminded himself that the end-game would be worth all of the annoyances, all of the migraines from dealing with idiots… And in the end, he’d get the one thing he’d been searching for his entire life.  
A way to make sure it never ended. But he needed this mermaid to do it, and worse still was that he had to be absolutely certain to keep the mermaid on his side.  
Despite the way he looked, all cute and curled up on the couch, drooling on the cushions, Jack knew this was a thing that could **easily** kill him and his crew. Whether it be by summoning a storm to destroy their ship or by tearing them all apart with his teeth, Rhys, and mermaids in general, were a force to be reckoned with.  
So he had to be civil with the curious little killer. And he needed to keep him safe until they got to the Coast of Storms.  
But after he had the gift, all bets were off.

After all, he was Captain Handsome Jack, and he deserved to have everything amazing… Especially a pet Mermaid.

That was neither here nor there, though. So for now he had to nudge Rhys awake. The double colored eyes opened slowly, blinking at Jack, before he groaned and put his head back down.  
“Hey. Come on, wake up kiddo. There’s food, and if you don’t get up now, there won’t be any for you.”  
Rhys immediately perked up, and they headed to get food together, with Rhys only occasionally needing to rest against Jack, because stairs were much more confusing than Rhys had anticipated.  
But the way the mermaid smiled and thanked him for his help made Jack think that this really could be a lot worse.  
The mermaid could be a total dick.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ship needs to make a stop at a port town along the way to pick up another important piece of the puzzle. Things should have run smoothly... but when do they ever?

As their conversations shifted from inane -In Jack’s opinion- questions to tales of Jack’s previous exploits, the two slowly became more comfortable with each other and the situation in which they found themselves in. Jack would not say he was necessarily _fond_ of the other… But Rhys would, if asked. But no one would ask him, seeing as how anyone who dared approach him was shooed off by a glare so murderous it would make lesser men pee their pants in fear.

Their first night was peculiar. At first, it had started with trembling. Rhys hadn’t really thought too much of it. Slowly, his body began to feel sore and exhausted, limbs becoming heavier, especially his legs. The worse it got, the more worried he became, until it became evident on his face. Jack looked at him with an eyebrow raised.  
“ Y’Okay, kiddo?” Jack asked the moment he noticed the merman’s expression. Rhys slowly shrugged.  
“Go on. I’m fine,” he said, though his mouth was beginning to feel dry. It was only when he started losing feeling in his legs that he really started to worry, and told Jack that he felt very weird. Rhys had to lean on Jack as they walked back to his cabin, clinging for dear life as he tried to move his cold, heavy legs. In the room adjacent to the one filled with glittering treasures, there sat a golden -tub, Jack informed Rhys, it was called a tub-, that Jack filled with water. Though he struggled to get out of the borrowed clothes with the state of his body, and struggled even more to get in to the basin, the moment his skin touched water, Rhys felt it was all worth it. Every inch of his skin immersed in the water suddenly felt as it was supposed to, like the water washed away the tiredness that had settled in his bones. He submerged himself completely, letting out a pleased sigh. His legs became a tail once more, prickling a little while it changed.  
Rhys poked his head out of the water to hear what Jack was saying.  
“I said, it looks like you need to get used to the whole _not being in water_ thing,” he repeated.”Guess you can sleep in the tub. Recharge your water-whatever.”  
Rhys yawned, and sunk back in with a sigh, swaddled by water in a boat rocked by the ocean that had rocked him every night of his life before.

The days continued like this. When Jack was busy or just couldn’t be bothered to deal with Rhys, he instead entertained himself with the vast bookshelf in Jack’s cabin, sprawling out on the soft bed covers. When Rhys began to feel that familiar sickness, he returned to his shiny tub and relaxed in the water for a while, daydreaming of his friends back in the reef or his nearly guaranteed Storm control position upon his return… Or even, the praises he’d receive upon his return. Sometimes this daydreams wandered to Captain Handsome Jack, imagining the stories he had told Rhys. Eventually, Rhys found himself capable of going the entire day without needing to rest in the water, and he learned more about the humans in his company as well as the fascinating Jack himself.

But as they arrived at the port town, Rhys found a great deal of other things to learn about, and he observed with curious fascination as people bustled about on their daily business.  
“We are here to restock,” Jack explained. “And… Probably get you a few new clothes, now that I think about it. You stick out like a sore thumb already so… try not to do anything too _fishy _, okay cupcake? If people find out what you are… well. Let’s just say it won’t be pleasant for anyone.”  
Rhys kind of wondered what _fishy_ behavior entailed, but he was determined to do his best, following Jack’s lead.__

___Their first stop was the tailors, to get it out of the way. Jack’s clothes did not fit Rhys properly, leaving skin with inladden scales exposed in certain places, or when the winds from the ocean blowed through his clothes. It had been fine on the ship, where everyone was aware of just what Rhys was, but this was different. Jack and Rhs both picked out a few things. As the mermaid tried them on, he noticed a stark contrast between the things they had chosen.  
Namely, how tight the fit was. Rhys had chosen flowing things, and Jack’s suggestions were tighter fitting, clinging to his skin.  
Though the human would vehemently deny it, he was staring at Rhys when he stepped out to show him what his suggestion looked like on him. His eyes especially did not wander below the merman’s hips, to long and slender legs that only Jack knew glittered with violet, interspersed scales and-  
Woops  
Better stop that train of thought right there.  
“So… How do I look?” Rhys asked Jack, grinning.  
“Uh… Fine. You look fine,” Jack replied dismissively. Rhys gave him a knowing smirk and returned to try on the other outfits, deciding on which ones to purchase based on the length of time Jack stared at him before shooing him to try something else on.  
They left with Rhys wearing the first one, grinning ear to ear. When Jack noticed his expression, he forcefully nudged Rhys and told him to cut it out.  
“What? Why?” Rhys asked in confusion, as he wondered what Jack could possibly have against smiling.  
“Your _teeth__ ,” Jack replied harshly. This made Rhys’ face drop as he realized that he had fangs where human teeth were mostly flat, and he clamped his mouth shut, but continued grinning either way.  
Jack tried to convince himself mentally that it had everything to do with the abnormality within Rhys’ mouth, and not one bit because of how lovely the creature looked all bright and gleeful. Because Rhys wasn’t human, he was a monster. He was a means to an end. A means to an end with one gorgeous rear end that Jack would absolutely love to-  
NOPE.  
Nope.  
Better stop that train of thought right there.  
Again. 

___They continued along the stops as usual. Jack ignored Rhys as best he could, uncertain whether the creature was staring at the glass they passed by out of fascination for the things behind or just out of his evident vanity. It didn’t really matter. He was behaving, for the most part. And it had been a few hours by now, though Rhys had not complained one bi-_  
“My feet hurt,” Rhys grumbled beneath his breath, not really meant for Jack to hear. The captain stopped abruptly, shooting Rhys a glare and feeling the irony if Rhys speaking up just as he was thinking about how grateful he was for the lack of complaints…  
But then Jack caught a glance of Rhys’ teeth, and remembered that he was a sea creature. A sea creature who swam, who did not walk, and to have walked this long without complaint even though his legs had surely been aching for hours now was commendable.  
So Jack rolled his eyes at the annoyance, instead of getting angry at Rhys’ efforts.  
“Fine, fine. There’s a bench right there. You can sit over there while I get this done. Not sure I want you in there with me anyways,” he said, gesturing to the bench with his thumb.   
As an after thought, Jack noticed a crew member passing by and flagged him down.  
“You. Stay with Rhys. Make sure nothing so much as touches him or I swear, I will string you up from the mast by the balls. Got it?”  
“Aye aye, Captain,” the man replied with only the slightest of trembles at the thought… Although he did cross his legs. 

__Rhys settled down and wondered what balls were, and why it seemed to bother the man so much. Human anatomy was weird as all hell. He didn’t ask though, because as soon as Jack was out of earshot, he wound up being distracted by an onslaught of excited questions from the crew member that he had no problem answering. They made sure to keep their voices low, however, so passerby could not hear the discussion._ _

___On his side, Jack wandered into a nearby store. It was filled to the brim with various things, from rare to downright mystical. At a small desk, there was a man, and a line. When the man behind the desk saw Jack enter, however, he ignored them immediately, in favor of the dangerous man. He beckoned him into the back room, a safe space where no one could eavesdrop.  
“There was a minor delay caused by a storm. The shipment is safe, however, and it will arrive in two days time,” the man said as soon as they were behind closed doors -and he, safely behind his desk.  
“A- two days? You’re shitting me!” Jack exclaimed, only to calm down a moment later. “Ugh. Fine, fine. Once I get it, time’s not going to mean a damn thing anyways. It’s just… I’ve got some precious cargo and I don’t really trust my idiot crew to keep it safe for long if I’m not around.” Jack sighed, running an aggravated hand through his hair.   
“You found it? Any plans for what you are going to do with it after the Coast of Storms?” the man asked, eyes glinting.  
“Yeah. I’m keeping _him. He_ ’s not for sale,” Jack said with finality.  
“Ah. Well. If it’s male, then I suppose I have no need for it anyways. And you found it, which means my information was accurate… There’s nothing to say I can’t get my own.”  
 _Damn right, you’ll get your own. Rhys is mine.__ Jack thought. He did not dare day it, however… And he certainly did not mention that, unlike the tales told, mermen were not, in fact, ugly, but attractive young men.  
That was his own secret to keep. 

__The man accompanied Jack into the main room, and immediately returned to his customers, all smiles like usual.  
“Remember, two days,” he called out as Jack exited the building. Jack made a sour face at both the comment, and at the sudden onslaught of bright sunlight. He shielded his eyes but, once having done that, he noticed a crowd in the distance. It took mere seconds for him to realize these people had gathered where he had left Rhys to sit, and fewer seconds for him to indiscriminately shove everyone out of the way to see what the hell they were staring at._ _

__But there was no Rhys on the bench, sitting cheerfully or loving the attention. His bags were knocked over, things strewn about here and there. The man who he had ordered to protect Rhys was laying in pieces, here and there and over there._ _

__The most worrisome thing, the thing that made Jack’s stomach drop, was what the crowd surely thought of as ink, but Jack recognized…  
As Rhys’ blood._ _


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys has been kidnapped... And his kidnappers are not nearly as kind as Jack, which is saying something... Unfortunately, like an animal backed into a corner, mermaids can be dangerous... and Rhys isn't an exception.

It was agony.  
Rhys drifted in and out of consciousness. When he was awake, he wished he wasn’t… At first it hadn’t hurt all that much. He’d hardly felt the limb severing, shock numbing him to absolutely everything. His face hurt more, where his captors had punched him who-knew-how-long-ago.   
Still, his body reacted as it would. His vision blurred by tears, and as black leaked from his side, it slowly blackened until he was in a dark abyss of unconsciousness.

 

Rhys didn’t know how long he was awake nor asleep. It could have been minutes, it could have been days. Being awake felt like centuries now that shock had faded and all he felt was pain.Rhys still felt like he should be able to move his arm, but it wasn’t there, it could not move or wipe away the sharp tears still clinging to his face, prickling any time he moved his cheeks. The other was equally as useless by his side, as heavy as his downcast head. Rhys heard sounds that made no sense, laughter occasionally, but none of that mattered to him. His mind was occupied with other thoughts.  
“This hurts so much, why am I awake again” was repeated like a skipping record player, so much he mouthed the words without knowing, with no voice. When he could think past the mantra, he wondered why, with ichor spilling freely where his arm should be, why he was even alive to begin with. He wondered what the point had been, what the bucket at his side was for… And then he blissfully blacked out again, only to be awoken with laughter and unknown words filling his ears.

There had been four people, when he could see. Maybe there had been more, but four was all Rhys had seen. He and Jack’s crew member had been chatting last he recalled, though they kept their voices down so that passersby could not hear their discussions. The sounds of the city muffled out anything they said, as well… So they had both figured they were safe.  
At least, until the other man’s words were cut short by sharp metal piercing through his throat… Rhys barely remembered the rest. He’d jumped away… He had bitten an arm that tried to grab him, the metallic taste delicious on his tongue… And then every other memory faded to the agony.

In a moment of clarity, Rhys realized that, even if he did somehow manage to get out, he could never return home. He wouldn’t see Vaughn or Yvette ever again, because he didn’t know how he could swim with just the one arm.  
It made more tears pour down his cheeks. The moment the other people noticed this, there was a hand lifting his face, grinning.  
That’s what they wanted. His tears. Of course they did.  
It bubbled anger in his stomach, his expression shifting from misery and agony to that of an injured animal with nothing to lose.  
Rhys ripped out of the grasp, only to bite down with sharp teeth on the soft flesh that had been hurting him.  
How dare they steal his arm! How dare they steal his future, his dreams! All over some stupid tears? No. He was going to make them seem the fool; tearing flesh from flesh and bone from bone, letting delicious crimson drip down his face and his throat…  
The scream was absolutely satisfactory. It mirrored his own agony and tasted absolutely sublime on his tongue.  
The hit that knocked him out was expected, but the smug smile and red blood on his face remained.

And that was how Jack found him when he did. Rhys felt hands on his face again, and was more than prepared to bite down once more… Except this touch was different, not nearly as bruising. The world felt like a bubble for a moment, where nothing but him and a scarred face existed. Even the pain had gone away until it came back in full force, twisting Rhys’ face.  
Though the hands never left, Jack’s gaze moved to things behind him. Rhys couldn’t really see what was going on, but there was a lot of movement, and it made him smile a bit through the pain.  
“D’you bring… everyone just to… get me?” he asked with amusement.  
“Shut up,” Jack snapped almost immediately. He picked Rhys up, turning towards the rest of the crew and the squirming, bound jackasses who’d taken Rhys in the first place.  
Rhys noted one of them with a wrist bound in ratty fabric, who looked more terrified than the others.

Still, the pain and exhaustion had taken a toll on Rhys, and he dozed off with his head on Jack’s shoulder as they left.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The incident is very hard to cope with, not just for Rhys -who took the blunt of it-, but also for Jack. While Rhys is upset and contemplating what this loss means for him and his future, Jack can't help but wonder why he reacted -and felt-, the way he did. There are so many fish in the sea... So why is Jack so certain he would rather have this one?

The feel of water against his skin woke Rhys up, this time much more alert than he had been since the entire ordeal had started. Jack hadn't even bothered to get him to remove his clothes, and so the moment his heels touched the water and what was legs became a tail as it should, the fabric of the pants he'd been wearing was torn apart. Rhys supposed it didn't really matter, seeing as they were ruined already, stained black and torn from the struggle... But he did feel a little twinge of sadness, seeing as how he had liked them.Rhys settled into the water, twitching when his wound came into contact with it. By his side, the water swirled with black, but the pain lessened.And lessened.And lessened.Until it was gone entirely. Though the water was tainted with his blood, his wound no longer bled. Just because it did not hurt did not mean that it did not feel weird; he felt like he still had his arm, but couldn't move it. His skin just sealed itself up, rather than grow a new one... Not that he thought it would, but a bit of Rhys had hoped when he'd started feeling better that it just might.He could tell Jack was watching him, could see the man's shadow and vague reflection and felt like he should care, but the reminder that he _couldn't fucking swim_ took over his mind like a cancer, and Rhys simply submerged himself in the water.The pirate's form retreated, leaving him to his thoughts, and Rhys momentarily thought that it was a good thing he was still relatively dehydrated, otherwise he'd probably start crying, and fill this little tub with pearls from his pain.

Jack, on his end, noticed Rhys' distress. He wasn't stupid, he could see something more than the pain was bothering Rhys. Losing a limb couldn't be easy; he'd seen it with a lot of his crew in the past, and was amazed by how well Rhys had handled it so far. It was stupid that he was concerned. He felt _worried_ for the merman. He felt _sympathy, and anger,_ far beyond what he should feel for someone taking something that was his. When Rhys submerged himself in the water, making it obvious he didn't want to talk, Jack even felt pained.But then again, why would Rhys want to talk to him after this? It was stupid of him to feel this way. Rhys was a means to an end and, while yes, it would be a pain to get another mermaid, it wasn't impossible. So Rhys wasn't necessary. He could have just left Rhys with the people who had taken him... Or. Probably not, simply because no one stole things from Handsome-fucking-Jack and got away with it, _ever_ , but still. He could tell himself that that was the only reason he had gone to rescue Rhys, why he'd terrified the entire town until someone spoke up and told him what he needed to know to find what was his... But there had been a frantic desperation as he did so that was undeniable, and he wondered why he was so sure he would not have any other mermaid but _Rhys_ for this.  
It would have been enough, just to kill these assholes slowly. Yet all he could think was how he desperately hoped Rhys was alive, and he could remember how seeing him sitting there in a pool of black blood, seeing the buckets full of pearls that he knew were from Rhys' tears, how all of this made him so unbearably angry and it hurt... It was a miracle that he didn't slaughter each and every one of the thieves responsible for hurting Rhys so much, only for his tears. Well.He'd killed one of them. The other three were in for more than just a quick shot in the face.This was how Jack would handle these feelings. Guilt, anger, worry... The emotion he refused to name from Rhys refusing to speak with him... He'd take them all out on the three survivors, and maybe Rhys would be willing to talk to him by the time not a single one of them breathed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack probably cares, he just has a very... odd way of showing it. Fortunately, Rhys seems to be picking up on it. It's only taken a week and a half, plus a near death experience to finally see it.  
> Jack also has a decent solution to their problem... Not that the mermaid is looking forward to it.

A hand reached into the water and ruffled Rhys' hair, catching his attention that had long-since been absorbed by the dilemma of his future. He breeched the surface curiously, if not still a little down. Jack was soaked in blood, and the sight distracted him for a moment, until the human's words could snatch his attention again."We should get that water changed. It's gross," he said, and Rhys smiled. Jack gave him a confused look, unsure why he was smiling, but in the statement Rhys had found the hidden concern, and he felt comfort in the fact that Jack was looking out for him.  
At least he had that, if nothing else, for the moment.

Jack decided not to bother with asking him about it, and instead reached into the tub to pick Rhys up, knowing full well he couldn't get out on his own. The mermaid was settled down on the floor, while Jack drained the tub and filled it again.  
"I hope none of that blood is yours," Rhys commented after a moment, laying flat on the ground and regarding the human backwards.  
"Not a drop," Jack replied flatly, though Rhys could see him smirk, even if he was trying to hide it. He wondered if Jack was pleased with the carnage, or if he was happy that Rhys was worrying about him. The latter seemed unlikely to him.  
After another moment of silence interrupted only by the running of the water, Jack sighed, and decided to speak up. He knelt down next to Rhys, his face unreadable.  
"How's that arm? Looks like the water healed it up, at least," he asked.  
"It's _gone_ ," Rhys replied, frowning. "Gone, and I'm entirely useless." Jack laughed at that -he actually laughed?- and patted Rhys on the head despite his hurt expression. Or, not even  _despite_. He seemed to ignore it entirely.  
"I don't know if you noticed, cupcake, but pirates tend to lose limbs like fucking crazy, and that doesn't stop them from being badasses," Jack told him."  
Yeah, but you guys have like... Replacements," Rhys pointed out.  
"Yup," Jack said, and looked like he was... Waiting? Rhys tilted his head in confusion.

...

...  
  
"And... I could... Potentially get one as well?" he asked slowly, realization finally dawning on him."Exactly. I mean, getting it installed will probably be painful, but... Hey, this time you won't be alone for it, and it'll actually be worth it," Jack said, grinning.  
"...It wasn't part of our arrangement," Rhys said.  
"Yeah well... Neither was you getting kidnapped and getting a limb chopped off, but _that_ happened. So this is going to happen, and you'll be a happy little fish-thing swimming around and conjuring up storms in no time," Jack replied. Rhys thought about it.  
"Will it keep working in the water?" he asked. He'd seen materials like what the pirates' prosthetics were made out of in the water, rusting and falling apart... And he'd never seen any of the ones on Jack's crew set foot in the water, either...Not that any of them had, but that was an entirely different story.  
"Of course it will. Seems kind of stupid for me to suggest it if it didn't, don't you think?" Jack replied, and got up to turn the water off. "I'm going to get changed out of this, you get some clothes on, and we'll head out. The sooner we get this done, the better."  
"My clothes are-"  
"We picked them up, don't worry. They're in the cabinet over there," Jack gestured vaguely, and he walked back into his room, leaving Rhys to dry.

He flopped backwards in thought, mumbling to himself.The decision had already been made, but Rhys couldn't help but feel worry, wiggling like worms in his gut. -who would even eat worms? Gross... And not the time to be thinking about that... Moving on-.He probably could learn to swim with one arm, though it would take quite a lot of time. He'd never seen a mermaid with one arm before, and wondered if he could still control storms, or do any of the other mermaid-things without it. More pain just hours after the agony of having his arm taken did not seem like too pleasing a prospect...And yet the clause of his and Jack's agreement said that he could return with as much treasure as he could carry, which was significantly less with only one arm. Which would diminish his chances of promotion. And being _broken_ would also diminish his chances, and worse, Vasquez would make fun of him for it... And it would potentially worry Vaughn and Yvette. They'd baby him, and he would not want that.Coming back with a cool metallic arm, however, would have people in awe of how he went to the human world and came back super cool, rather than returning damaged.

Well. He supposed that this was well worth the risk, if it was going to make the other mermaids see just how cool he really was and respect him.He just... Really wasn't looking forward to the pain, even if Jack was going to be there with him this time around.

The things people -or merpeople- did for glory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This trash panda wants you to know that in no way does she think anyone who is missing a limb (or all of them) is broken in any which way. She also says that your comments give her life, and your guesses on what is going to happen next help her decide what will. So... Comment. Please and peaches.

**Author's Note:**

> I am but a lowly trash panda. Please do not murder me in my sleep.


End file.
